Day Trip to Naoussa

Sunday May 18 was a beautiful sunny day with a high of 22C.  After breakfast, we headed out to catch the 10:40 a.m. bus to Naoussa, the other main village on the island of Paros.  It is old fishing village located in the northeastern corner of the island that has now become a stylish high-end destination with many chic hotels and shops.  The permanent population is around 3,100.  Naoussa is only a 20 bus ride from Parikia.

Arriving by bus

When we arrived,  there was a sign at the bus stop, pointing towards the city centre.  En route, we stopped at a lovely store called Artisun.  The owners were a couple.  The husband was running the store when we were there.  His wife is the designer of a clothing line and the jewellery carried in the store.   

Outside of the store

Message at the front of the store

The owner was going to be at the store until 2:30 p.m., then he was going for a swim, and wouldn't reopen until 5:30 p.m.  A nice Sunday schedule.  We have found a lot of stores with hand crafted goods in our travels to date in Greece.   A number of the jewellery stores are awesome and there are also some interesting clothing stores featuring local designers.

We walked into the city centre which is on the large Plastira Bay.  We stopped at the Greek Orthodox Church Ieros Naos Ypapantis tou Kyriou Pantanassa which is on a main square not far from the bus station.

Outside of the church

Door of the church

Inside

Very ornate and beautiful interior

As we arrived before noon, the village was just getting up.  More whitewashed houses, narrow streets and flowers.

Naoussa streets in the morning

Another small church

We made our way down to the harbour.  A wonderful cubist vision.

By the harbour

Restaurants on a small beach.  Kismisis Theotokou Church on the hill with two bell towers.

We wandered around the harbour watching a number of restaurants getting set up for the day.  We also wandered through some of the narrow streets with high-end stores.

An enticing shop- but didn't buy anything

Lovely harbour

Boats and white houses- very pretty

There is a small, white, traditional chapel in the port.

Agios Nikolas, (St. Nicholas) Holy Chapel.

Inside of the Church

The icons are very colourful

At the entrance to the old fishing port, are the remains of an old Venetian stone fortress which was built in the early 14th century to protect against pirates.  There is not a lot remaining, but one can walk out to it along a narrow sea wall.  

Ruins of ancient Venetian fortress

We decided the walk was a bit too narrow for us.  

Lovely views of the town

Cat on a hot stone roof!

Squid drying in the sun

We decided to go for a gelato/sorbetto at Solo Gelato (Gelateria artigianale), which has operated since 1951.

Allan had pistachio

I had raspberry sorbetto.  Very good.

We decided to walk to the rather large public beach.  We had to climb some rocks to get there.  We met a very nice man from Vermont who was on a 12 person cruise in a small sailboat.  Once we told him that we were Canadian, he immediately profusely apologized to us for the craziness of his President. 

Walking to the beach

There were a number of folks swimming--- glad we are visiting in May and not later in the summer when we imagined the beach would be packed with people.

Another small street with shops

We stopped for a very late lunch at the Ragoussis bakery which also has a branch in Parikia.  We wandered through the narrow alleys, checking out more shops.

On our way back to the bus stop and very near the large church with the ornate interior, we heard music and stopped at a very packed Taverna.  There was a small group playing and while we were looking, a couple got up and danced.  Sunday in Naoussa!!

Music and dancing- a perfect Sunday afternoon

We caught the 4:30 p.m. bus and were back in Parikia before 5:00 p.m.  Fast trip.  We wandered through the area with the shops one last time and then returned to the apartment for a rest.  We headed out to dinner at around 8:00 p.m.  We had decided to return to Ouzeri Apostolis, about a seven minute walk from our apartment along the waterfront.  We had lunch there when we arrived in Parikia.

Sunset over Parikia

The small beach en route to the restaurant 

Sunset photo from our table.  Light was wonderful.

I decided to have a glass of ouzo-- very nice treat

Tomato and cucumber salad-- so good

Grilled octopus and cod

It was nice having a traditional meal at a place where both tourists and locals eat.  We had the same waiter  as we had earlier in the week.  Good service and it was lovely sitting outside this time.  No wind at all!

Heading back to the apartment - such a lovely harbour

On Monday May 19, we are travelling to the nearby island of Naxos, where we will be staying for six nights.  See you there!!